Disease in the Developing World

News Releases

Public Release: 24-Jul-2014What constitutes an effective response to the global 'diabesity' tsunami?
This text describes the enormous global efforts expended in the attempt to prevent diabetes by implementing prevention programs in even the remotest communities. Although considerable progress is being made, clearly, much more needs to done. Effective coordination of governmental and non-governmental organizations, food and agricultural industries, regional and local health authorities, the practicing and academic medical communities is required with considerable investment of financial and other resources if the 'diabesity' tsunami is to be thwarted.

Public Release: 24-Jul-2014 CellMechanism found for development of protective HIV antibodies
Scientists at Duke Medicine have found an immunologic mechanism that makes broadly neutralizing antibodies in people who are HIV-1 infected.
NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 23-Jul-2014ETH student develops filter for clean water around the world
An innovative filter makes it possible to purify water more quickly, simply and economically than ever before. The developers hope the device will soon play a big role development aid, and they are looking for investors to help them achieve this goal.

Public Release: 21-Jul-2014 The LancetDeaths and infections from HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria plummet globally
Today, fewer people are dying from HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria, according to a new, first-of-its-kind analysis of trend data from 188 countries. The pace of decline in deaths and infections has accelerated since 2000, when the Millennium Development Goals were established to stop the spread of these diseases by 2015.

Public Release: 21-Jul-2014 Proceedings of the National Academy of SciencesTemple University researchers eliminate the HIV virus from cultured human cells for first time
The HIV-1 virus has proved to be tenacious, inserting its genome permanently into its victims' DNA, forcing patients to take a lifelong drug regimen to control the virus and prevent a fresh attack. Now, a team of Temple University School of Medicine researchers has designed a way to snip out the integrated HIV-1 genes for good.
National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 17-Jul-2014
20th International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2014)Biomarker discovery may lead to new HIV treatment
Further analysis of a Phase II study of therapeutic HIV vaccine candidate Vacc-4x revealed a potential biomarker associated with participants who experienced a more profound viral load reduction after receiving the vaccine. The results of this exploratory, ad hoc, subset analysis by St George's, University of London and Bionor Pharma were announced today at the AIDS 2014 Conference in Melbourne, Australia.
Bionor Pharma

Public Release: 17-Jul-2014 Proceedings of the National Academy of SciencesEradicating fatal sleeping sickness by killing off the tsetse fly
Steven L. Peck, a BYU professor of biology, has lent his expertise in understanding insect movement to help shape a UN-sanctioned eradication effort of the tsetse fly -- a creature that passes the fatal African sleeping sickness to humans, domestic animals, and wildlife.
Results of the effort appear in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
US State Department, Joint Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, International Atomic Energy Agency, Department of Technical Cooperation, Directorate of Veterinary Services of Senegal, Institut Senegalais de Recerches Agricoles

Public Release: 16-Jul-2014 AnalysisAnti-tank missile detector joins the fight against malaria
State-of-the-art military hardware could soon fight malaria, one of the most deadly diseases on the planet.
Researchers at Monash University and the University of Melbourne have used an anti-tank Javelin missile detector, more commonly used in warfare to detect the enemy, in a new test to rapidly identify malaria parasites in blood.

Public Release: 16-Jul-2014 Food ControlPreventing foodborne illness, naturally -- with cinnamon
Cinnamomum cassia oil was shown to be effective as a natural antibacterial agent against several strains of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli, known to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as 'non-O157 STEC'. The study results add to a body of knowledge that will help improve food safety and reduce or eliminate cases of food poisoning and related deaths.

Public Release: 15-Jul-2014 TalantaNew assay to spot fake malaria drugs could save thousands of lives
Chemists have created a new type of chemical test, or assay, that's inexpensive, simple, and can tell whether or not one of the primary drugs being used to treat malaria is genuine -- an enormous and deadly problem in the developing world. If widely used it could help save hundreds of thousands of lives.

Public Release: 15-Jul-2014 Nature Reviews CardiologyCardiac patients underserved globally due to lack of rehab programs: York University researcher
The article, Global availability of cardiac rehabilitation, published online at Nature Reviews Cardiology, indicates that while 68 per cent of high-income countries have cardiac rehabilitation, only 23 per cent of low-income and middle-income countries do, despite the fact that 80 per cent of deaths from heart disease occur in these countries.

Public Release: 15-Jul-2014 PLOS MedicineRollout strategy for diagnostic test in India may impact TB
Xpert MTB/RIF, a recently implemented tuberculosis (TB) test, has the potential to control the TB epidemic in India, but only if the current, narrow, implementation strategy is replaced by a more ambitious one that is better funded, also includes the private sector, and better referral networks are developed between public and private sectors, according to new research published in this week's PLOS Medicine.
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Public Release: 14-Jul-2014 Emerging Infectious DiseasesSierra Leone samples: Ebola evidence in West Africa in 2006
Analysis of clinical samples from suspected Lassa fever cases in Sierra Leone showed that about two-thirds of the patients had been exposed to other emerging diseases, and nearly nine percent tested positive for Ebola virus. The study, authored by USAMRIID and published in this month's edition of Emerging Infectious Diseases, demonstrates that Ebola virus has been circulating in the region since at least 2006 -- well before the current outbreak.
Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center, Global Emerging Infections Surveillance and Response System, US Department of Defense Cooperative Biological Engagement Program

Public Release: 10-Jul-2014 The LancetInjected vaccine could help eradicate polio
Re-introducing a type of polio vaccine that fell out of favor in the 1960s could hasten eradication of the disease, according to new research.
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Public Release: 9-Jul-2014 Cell Host & MicrobeThe 'yin and yang' of malaria parasite development
'Herculean study' into malaria parasite development is completed -- bringing scientists closer to disrupting the life-cycle of this highly efficient parasite.
Medical Research Council

Public Release: 4-Jul-2014
64th Lindau Nobel Laureate MeetingConclusion of the Lindau Nobel Laureate meeting
The 64th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting has ended with a panel discussion entitled 'Science for the benefit of mankind' on Mainau Island, Germany, today. In the panel discussion it was repeatedly emphasised that basic research forms the essential basis for applied science and should therefore be supported equally as translational research.

Public Release: 3-Jul-2014 Angewandte ChemieLow-cost TB test means quicker, more reliable diagnosis for patients
A new test for tuberculosis developed at the Texas A&M Health Science Center could dramatically improve the speed and accuracy of diagnosis for one of the world's deadliest diseases, enabling health care providers to report results to patients within minutes, according to a study published this week in the journal Angewandte Chemie.
Wellcome Trust

Public Release: 1-Jul-2014 PLOS BiologyNew compound blocks 'gatekeeper' enzyme to kill malaria
Melbourne researchers are homing in on a new target for malaria treatment, after developing a compound that blocks the action of a key 'gatekeeper' enzyme essential for malaria parasite survival.
The compound, called WEHI-916, is the first step toward a new class of antimalarial drugs that could cure and prevent malaria infections caused by all species of the parasite, including those resistant to existing drugs.

Public Release: 30-Jun-2014 Proceedings of the National Academy of SciencesMalaria parasite manipulates host's scent
Malaria parasites alter the chemical odor signal of their hosts to attract mosquitoes and better spread their offspring, according to researchers, who believe this scent change could be used as a diagnostic tool.
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Grand Challenges Exploration

Public Release: 30-Jun-2014Sixth class of Global Health Corps fellows begin year of service to advance health equity
Global Health Corps welcomed its sixth class of fellows today at Yale University, for the opening of its annual Leadership Training Institute. Selected from a pool of nearly 5,000 applicants, the incoming class of fellows -- the largest ever -- reflects the growing enthusiasm and commitment of millennials to engage globally and address inequities worldwide. Representing 22 countries, GHC's newest class will begin their year of service within health organizations across Africa and the United States.

Public Release: 30-Jun-2014 Proceedings of the National Academy of SciencesBody odor reveals malarial infection
An infection with malaria pathogens changes the scent of infected mice, making those infected more attractive to mosquitos. These are the findings of a team of researchers from ETH Zurich and Pennsylvania State University in a new study.